Little Dog Island, South Gippsland

A saltmarsh sanctuary for nature, climate and community.

Securing a Unique Ecosystem

In October 2022, Nooramunga Land & Sea Ltd. acquired Little Dog Island, a 150-acre private island nestled within the sheltered estuarine waters of Corner Inlet, South Gippsland. Surrounded by the Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park, the island represents an outstanding example of Victoria’s rare and threatened coastal saltmarsh communities.

An Island of Hope

The conservation journey began when one of Victoria’s leading botanists, Tim D’Ombrain (Biodiversity Service), heard through a friend that a private island in Corner Inlet was up for sale.

Understanding the ecological importance of saltmarsh and how vulnerable these landscapes are to farming and inappropriate development, Tim raised the alarm. In response, a group of passionate botanists, conservation philanthropists and carbon landscape experts came together to purchase the island and transfer it into a not-for-profit Local Landholding Entity.

NL&S founders and stewardship team

The group behind Little Dog Island are recognised leaders in private and public conservation:

  • Renowned flora expert Tim D’Ombrain, who has deep knowledge on Victoria’s Ecological Vegetation Classes and many years of experience surveying Victoria’s landscapes and developing management plans.
  • Karl Just, an ecologist with more than 20 years’ experience mapping Victoria’s native vegetation and leading major restoration projects.
  • Jim Phillipson, Strategic Director of the Rendere Environmental Trust and one of Australia’s leading environmental philanthropists.
  • Dr Steve Enticott, co-director of Carbon Landscapes and expert in environmental investment.

With support from local volunteers, including Biodiversity Legacy’s South Gippsland Biolink Coordinator, Stuart Inchley, the NL&S team is restoring degraded areas, conducting detailed ecological surveys and collaborating with researchers, including Zoos Victoria, to understand the true value of these landscapes and protect icon and significant species.

Distinctive and Diverse Ecosystem

Little Dog Island is a refuge for a rich variety of saltmarsh and estuarine vegetation, shaped by tidal rhythms, saline soils and seasonal flooding. Plant highlights include:

  • Beaded and Shrubby Glasswort, the latter a woody shrub that can live over 100 years.
  • Pigface, blooming in vibrant pink across spring and summer.
  • Swamp Paperbark and Coast Tea-tree thickets.
  • Austral Seablite and Austral Brooklime.
  • Extensive white mangrove forests, vital fish nurseries and erosion buffers.
  • Diverse wildflowers embedded in healthy grasslands.

Initial ecological surveys revealed at least six Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs) and extensive areas of a federally listed ecological community. The island also provides critical habitat for threatened fauna, including the Endangered Swamp Skink.

Economic dimension

Corner Inlet is one of Victoria’s oldest professional fisheries, providing around 450 tonnes of seafood to the community each year. The mudflats, mangroves and seagrass meadows in and around Little Dog Island provide food and shelter for fish and fish nurseries.

Blue Carbon Hotspot

Blue carbon refers to the ability of coastal ecosystems – like saltmarshes, mangroves and seagrass beds – to remove carbon from our atmosphere and store it safely in their living biomass and soils.

According to researchers at the Blue Carbon Lab, coastal wetlands can capture carbon 30 to 50 times faster than terrestrial forests, and once stored in the mud, it can stay locked away for thousands of years.

While Corner Inlet retains 80% of its saltmarshes, a salutary lesson can be learned if we look west to Anderson Inlet, where 60% of the marshes have been lost. When degraded, these ecosystems release CO² back into the atmosphere and become carbon sources.

In the quest to tackle the climate crisis, government agencies are recognising the vital role these ‘natural carbon sinks’ play, with new methodologies for measuring carbon sequestration opening the door for landholders and community groups to earn blue carbon credits.

A haven for local and migratory birds

Corner Inlet is a crucial destination for migratory birds—supporting around 20% of Victoria’s entire wader population.

Each year, countless shorebirds travel over 10,000 kilometres from breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere to rest and feed on the rich mudflats and saltmarshes of south-eastern Australia. Little Dog Island, located among a mosaic of estuarine islands, is an ideal stopover site.

Notable species observed or expected on the island include:

  • Critically Endangered: Far Eastern Curlew, Great Knot and Curlew Sandpiper.
  • Endangered: Lesser Sand Plover, Red Knot and Brittle Star.
  • Vulnerable: Hooded Plover.
  • Australian Grayling, Swift Parrot and many other significant species.

The team is also working to support the return of the Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP)—one of the world’s rarest migratory birds. With fewer than 20 individuals in the wild just five years ago, efforts to re-establish this species in its winter feeding habitat – including South Gippsland’s saltmarshes – are ongoing. NL&S is collaborating with Zoos Victoria on monitoring and habitat restoration for the OBP.

Orange-bellied Parrot. Photo with thanks to Ross Tsai.

Red Necked Stint. Photo with thanks to Laurie Boyle.

Bar-tailed Godwit. Photo with thanks to Patrick Kavanagh.

Far Eastern Curlew. Photo with thanks to Patrick Kavanagh.

Banner photo (top) with thanks to Andrew Wallace, Wallace and Wallace Gallery, Fish Creek.